LATEST NEWS

10Mar2016

Finding holes in Australia’s new FIRB laws?

There is a popular ancient proverb about ‘wills’ and ‘ways’ that could be proving a tad prickly for Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

In a report by Byron Kaye, ‘Asian property giants sidestep Australia’s foreigner rules’ for Reuters, “A loophole in Australian property rules has helped overseas developers invest what industry executives believe were record levels in the country in 2015, casting doubt over the efficacy of curbs intended to keep a lid on soaring prices”

New developments are exempt from the restrictive rules, and according to a Reuters review, “foreign- financed residential “off the plan” construction approvals hit a record total value of $16. 4 billion in 2014, triple the previous year. Analysts and industry players expect that 2015 will turn up an even higher number”.

At a time where housing affordability is a highly political issue, will this loophole throw more gas to the fire?

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